Contests

Writing contests provide steps up for a writer – especially a struggling writer. A portfolio that contains contest wins means more than many clips. Can’t afford the entry fees? Consider entering one contest a quarter or something more amiable to your pocketbook. A few are free. Contests provide prizes, prestige and usually publication with many offering book contracts. Denouncing contests from your writing repertoire is like discounting an entire genre or refusing to eat yellow vegetables. You’re giving up something valuable that may serve you and your career well.

NOTE: To have your group’s contest posted, email hope@chopeclark.com with the link to the contest. It must pay a minimum of a $200 first prize, not take all rights for entering, and charge an entry fee of five percent or less. 

LONGLEAF PRESS BOOK PRIZE
https://longleafpress.submittable.com/submit/363166/longleaf-press-book-prize-2026-2027
$27 ENTRY FEE. Deadline January 15, 2027. The winning manuscript will be published by Longleaf Press in early 2028. Along with publication, the author will receive a $1200 prize, 25 author copies, and a virtual reading. Please submit an original manuscript in English of at least 50 pages.

THE LONDON MAGAZINE SHORT STORY PRIZE
https://thelondonmagazine.submittable.com/submit/363643/the-london-magazine-short-story-prize-2026
£12 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 18, 2026. Open to writers from around the world. Looking for previously unpublished stories of no more than 4,000 words. First Prize: £1000. Second Prize: £600. Third Prize: £400.

THE HOPE PRIZE
https://www.thehopeprize.com/guidelines
$33 AUD ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 31, 2026. First place: $10,000 AUD – jointly funded by Readings Books and Simon & Schuster Australia. Second place: $2,000 AUD – funded by The Hope Prize. Third place: $1,000 AUD – funded by The Hope Prize. The winning entries and a selection of highly commended entries will be included in an anthology to be published by Simon & Schuster Australia. The Hope Prize is an international competition, open to writers from anywhere in the world. The Hope Prize is a short story competition and we accept prose short stories only; either fiction or narrative nonfiction (including memoir). We do not accept poetry, essays, or academic writing. Limit 5,000 words.

FLASH 500 NOVEL OPENING AND SYNOPSIS COMPETITION
https://flash500.com/novels/
£10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 31, 2026. First: £500. Second: £200. We welcome published, self-published and unpublished novelists. The only stipulation is that the entry must be unpublished. We are looking for a novel opening up to 3,000 words, plus a synopsis  of the story (max 750 words) to be submitted together in a single file.

AGARTS BIO-SANCTUARY CONTEST
https://www.agarts.org/agarts-announces-the-2026-bio-sanctuary-contest/
$10 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 1, 2026. First prize: $1000. Runner-up: $500. We are seeking writing—poetry or non-fiction, 500-word maximum. Along with your writing, submit 1-3 excellent photos that document the specific bio-sanctuary that you’ve enhanced or created. Winners will be published in The Blazing Star Journal and Emerging Voices Substack page. AgArts is a nonprofit designed to imagine and promote a healthy food system through the arts.

FLUME PRESS CHAPBOOK CONTEST
https://flumepress.com/contest/
$15 ENTRY FEE. Deadline October 10, 2026. Submit chapbook manuscripts in poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, and hybrid forms. Poetry: Submit between 18-25 pages. Prose: Up to 25 pages of prose (flash, long-form, novella, or a blend of genres). The winner will receive $300, plus ten copies of the chapbook. Our books are handmade, so the print run will be limited.

MSLEXIA WOMEN’S SHORT FICTION COMPETITION
https://mslexia.co.uk/competitions/short-story/womens-fiction-competition-2026-short-story/
£14 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 21, 2026. This competition is for unpublished complete short fiction of up to 3,000 words. The winner will receive £3,000. Three additional finalists will each receive £150. Eight shortlistees will each receive £75.

RICHARD GABRIEL RUMMONDS POETRY CONTEST
https://www.exophidiapress.org/contest/
$25 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 16, 2026. The author of the prize-winning book receives $2,000, ten copies of the book, and an author discount on additional copies. Open to all authors writing in English who reside in North America. Manuscripts must consist of 50 to 100 numbered pages.

BPA SHORT STORY AWARD
https://www.bluepencilagency.com/short-story-prize-2026
£22 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 13, 2026. The Short Story Award is open to unrepresented writers anywhere in the world. All you need is a complete short story up to 2,500 words. Prize: cash + agent introduction, 1st Prize £1,000 + agent introduction, 2nd Prize £300, 3rd Prize £100.

AUSTIN CLARKE POETRY PRIZE
https://puritan-magazine.submittable.com/submit/355793/the-austin-clarke-prize-in-literary-excellence-poetry-2026
$20 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 15, 2026. This year, the winners will be selected by Kai Thomas (for fiction) and jaye simpson (for poetry). Winners in each category will receive: First Prize: $1,000, Runner-up: $200. For short story contest submissions, please include a word count. No works over 7,500 words or under 1,000 will be accepted or read. Each submission to the poetry contest can include up to 4 poems, or up to 4 pages (whichever comes first).

BRIDPORT PRIZE FOR MEMOIR
https://thebridportprize.submittable.com/submit
£26 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 30, 2026. Submit 5,000 to 8,000 words max, plus a 300-word overview which should be the first page of your entry. 1st Prize £1,500 plus package. A year’s mentoring with The Literary Consultancy through their Chapter & Verse scheme (worth £2,640) and advice from an editor at John Murray (part of Hachette) plus you’ll be offered the option of a discussion with the University of Exeter’s Creative Writing Department. Runner up £750 plus package. Longlisted entrants will be asked to submit 15,000 words for the next stage of the judging process.

MSLEXIA WOMEN’S FICTION NOVEL CONTEST
https://mslexia.co.uk/competitions/novel/womens-fiction-competition-2026-novel/
£28 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 21, 2026. Open to unpublished fiction novels of at least 50,000 words in any genre for adult and/or young adult readers. Submit the first 5,000 words only in the first instance. Longlisted entrants will be asked to submit their finished manuscripts along with a synopsis later in the judging process. The winner will receive £5,000.

MSLEXIA FLASH FICTION CONTEST
https://mslexia.co.uk/competitions/flash-fiction/womens-fiction-competition-2026-flash-fiction/
£8 ENTRY FEE. Deadline September 21, 2026. For unpublished complete short fiction of up to 300 words. The winner will receive £1,000. Three additional finalists will each receive £100. Eight shortlistees will each recieve £50.

THE BEDFORD COMPETITION
https://bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk/
£8.50 per story or poem. Deadline October 31, 2026. Short story and poetry main prizes. Separate short story and poetry prize winning categories for those aged 17-25 and for local Bedford residents. See all competition categories and prize money online. Open to writers worldwide. 1st Prize £2000. 2nd Prize £400. 3rd Prize £300. Stories maximum 3000 words. Poems maximum 40 lines.

THE MORIARTY AWARD
https://www.bellcowproductions.com/award
$50 ENTRY FEE. Deadline April 30, 2027. An annual prize recognizing the literary villain or antagonist who slinks off the page and into our psyches, challenging our morals, testing our loyalties and reminding us why tension—real, nail-biting tension—is the beating heart of storytelling. Presented annually (beginning in 2027) to the author who gives us a villain or antagonist so complex, so cunning, so unnervingly human, that readers will think about him/her/it long after the book is closed. Eligibility: fiction published in the 2026 calendar year. Cash prize: $500. Moriarty Award Medal. Guest appearances at the Minnesota Mystery Night, Masters of Mystery, and Writers’ Corner.

SHADY GROVE LITERARY CONTEST

https://shadygroveliterary.wixsite.com/shadygroveliterary/submissions
NO ENTRY FEE. Submissions are accepted from November 1st to October 31st for each year’s competition. 300 words maximum. One submission per competition. Any style, genre, tone, etc. of flash fiction. 1st place – $100. 2nd and 3rd places- publication online. Shady Grove Literary has readers in multiple countries, but its home is in Thousand Oaks, California.

NOTE: See more contests by joining our newsletters. We can keep you loaded with contests without you looking anywhere else!

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Please remember to read ALL guidelines for a contest. FundsforWriters tries to research contests to the best of our ability, but we cannot confirm the credibility of each and every one without entering them ourselves. Be informed and be alert as you would with any market, publisher, agent or competition.

Testimonials

Dear Hope, The Emerald Theatre Company’s 10-minute play fest is going into its second year. Without you, and FundsforWriters, the first year might not have been possible. Thanks to the publicity from your newsletter, our little Memphis, Tennessee event received scripts from Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming, the UK and New Zealand.

This wealth of wonderful material yielded quality vignettes that made the best local actors and stage directors (including a popular local radio personality) eager to donate their time and talent – their presence, in turn, sold tickets. We played to packed houses and everyone had a great time. To our astonishment, Vermont Pride Theatre got wind of the show and asked to put it on in its entirety this coming July – meaning the playwrights who won prizes and recognition in our fest, will now receive additional recognition along with royalties.

The bottom line is, without you, we would have had something rinky dink – with you we had something substantial. The publicity you provided on the front end made all the difference in the world!  ~Caroline Sposto, www.whycaroline.com, (610) 597-9803

 

Hi Hope, we met at the SCWW conference in Myrtle Beach last October, and I was so impressed with your lecture that I subscribed to FFW as soon as I got home. I wanted to drop you a line to let you know that because of FFW, I submitted AND WON The 2008 William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant for Unpublished Writers! My novel will be finished this week, and next weekend I’m going to Malice Domestic to accept the award. Thanks you, and keep up the great work.